This invention relates to a storage container for fishing lures, and more particularly to a container in which a large number of fishing lures with treble hooks may be stored in a tangle-free manner.
The popularity of sport and tournament fishing has increased rapidly over the past two decades. In particular, fishing for bass and other sport fish competitively in fishing tournaments and other events, as well as for sport, has lead to a corresponding increase in the interest of fishing baits. It is common practice to use a large number of artificial fishing lures or plugs with treble hooks in sport and tournament fishing. With the popularity of this fishing, the number of fishing lures which need to be used and carried by the fisherman presents a problem to which considerable attention need be given. Not only are the treble hooks of fishing lures easily entangled with one another, but it is easy for the sharp points of the treble hooks to pierce into the skin during handling. Accordingly, the provision of a storage container for containing and managing a very large number of fishing lures with treble hooks in a generally tangle-free manner is one to which considerable attention need be given.
Heretofore, containers have been provided for fishing lures having treble hooks. However, such containers are typically suitable for only containing a small number of fishing lures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,364,807 discloses a container having a slotted compartment for containing fishing lures with treble hooks. Not only is the number of lures that may be contained limited, but the opening and closing of the container requires the sliding of moveable panels in and out of grooves. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,723,484 and 2,841,917 disclose individual containers which utilize various arrangements of slots. U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,051 discloses a fishing lure holder having two rows of slotted members for supporting fishing lures; however, the fishing lures are not retained in the slots and may easily dislodge from the slots and become entangled during movement of the holder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,222 discloses a tackle box consisting of a stack of upstanding rectangular housing units. The units may be hinged together by pins which are readily removable so that the units can be added or deleted as desired by fishermen. While the above various fishing lure holders and containers, and tackle boxes, may be suitable for their intended purposes, they do not provide a fishing lure storage container which is satisfactory for containing a large number of fishing lures with treble hooks in a tangle-free manner.
Accordingly, an object of the invention is to provide a storage container for containing a large number of fishing lures in a tangle-free manner.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fishing lure storage container for containing fishing lures having treble hooks in which the lures may be stored and retrieved easily without the need to manually handle the hooks.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a fishing lure storage container for maintaining a large number of fishing lures with treble hooks wherein the fishing lures are retained in a tangle-free manner inside the container and may be easily placed and removed conveniently during fishing.
Another object of the invention is to provide a fishing lure storage container for use in sport and tournament fishing in which a large number of fishing lures may be stored in a tangle-free manner for quick and easy use, and wherein storage compartments for the tangle-free storage of the fishing lures may be added or deleted from a base unit as desired by the fisherman.